Hair the Color of Fire
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: Hey everyone! Been a long time, but I've been working on epics for other channels. This is a sort ditty I wrote for Katniss and Darius as a cool-down. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: My Baker's Gone

**Chapter 1: My Baker's Gone**

I wear black to match the storm clouds gathering over the Village. And also to clearly present my morning.

He was supposed to come back. He would just be in the Capitol getting therapy with Dr. Aurelius, and then he would come back. And we would... live. Maybe happily ever after. Probably not.

But now my Peeta is gone. And I have to watch as he is buried.

Haymitch and I are the only ones present as miners lower him into the ground, in the Fallen Tributes' Graveyard. A shrine will be built, since he was a Victor. I debated whether we should bury him next to his family, except their graves are unmarked in the Meadow, unlikely to be found. And Haymitch also figured that Peeta would want to be close to him.

Just before they bury Peeta, I throw my body across his, not wanting to let him go. "DON'T TOUCH HIM!"

The miners stop dead, and allow me a few minutes to cry over him, to kiss him. Haymitch finally gestures for them to come forward, and they pry Peeta away from me. I actually accept Haymitch's awkward hug as my love is laid to rest. I hope if there is a Heaven, his mind is healed.

Afterwards, I go for a walk. Most of District 12 is still being rebuilt, and very few people have returned - few former residents and even fewer refugees. There are so many better districts to migrate to. District 12 always has been and likely always will be a bit of a dump.

All at once, I bump into a body; I was so busy staring at the ground, my feet as I walked, that I didn't look where I was going. But when I glance up, I see a chiseled face and body behind a Peacekeepers' uniform. Long, flowing hair the color of fire.

And eyes as blue as a summer sky. A lot like Peeta's...

I never had many male friends in Twelve. And I never had a boyfriend until I competed in the Hunger Games and Peeta came along. But Darius was one of the few men in District 12 whom I could tolerate. He was friendly, always joking, something I don't think one could say about any other Peacekeeper.

"Sorry, Katniss, I didn't see you there!" He observes my tearstained face. "How was the funeral?"

I brush him away. "It was fine, Darius. It would have done you good to see how green the place is." I am usually not so friendly in conversation, in a emotionally-distressed time like this, I should by all rights be unable to talk. But Darius was always easy to talk to, and especially in hard times.

I continue to walk in silence, only now Darius walks with me. We pass by the bombed-out structure that was once Mellark bakery. Where Peeta and his family grew up. Seeing it, my eyes fill with tears.

"He was supposed to be your purpose, huh?" Darius asks gently.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to come home, all new and my Peeta again, or getting close to it. And then, someday, we would just say, 'To heck with it!' and have a toasting. And maybe... after that... if he really wanted babies, I would have... for him..." My voice chokes on the tears that now spill. "Now, I feel so lost."

Darius considers this, frowning in thought. "Well, maybe you just need a new purpose," he suggests.

"Like what?"

"A job is a good starters. Even you can't survive just on hunting, can you? And Haymitch needs his liquor." He turns to me. "I'm on the Reconstruction Crew for District 12. We mostly rebuild and salvage the old buildings lost in the bombings. We're working on the schoolhouse right now. Would you like to join us?"

I think for a moment. A job might be a good distraction for losing Peeta. "Sure. Thanks, Darius."


	2. Chapter 2: Rebuild the Schoolhouse

**Chapter 2: Rebuild the Schoolhouse**

I report for duty on the Reconstruction Crew early that next Monday morning. Darius and I are assigned to the same harness and beam, as we work to repair the schoolhouse roof. I never liked it here at school. It was an imposing building. And I had few friends. The other girls would whisper about me, and how my priorities were not on boys.

Darius and I now work back-to-back on the beam, passing each other tools from a toolbox between us. At one point, I turn to ask for a screwdriver.

"Darius, can you pass me...?"

I turn too quickly. Only the harness saves me as I fall with a scream from the beam, hanging in mid-air like an idiot. Darius reaches for me, as I struggle to get a hand-hold (which I finally do) on the beam.

"I've got you, Katniss! Just hold on!"

I happen to look down for only a moment. But it is no longer the concerned Crew down below that I see. And I am no longer at the schoolhouse. I am now in a tree in a wild arena, where four Careers now circle me and taunt me: _Come on, Katniss... Fall..._

I feel an arm grip mine. I think that it's Peeta, come to save me as he always did. But, no, it is Darius who pulls me not back onto a branch, but a beam.

I burst into tears and collapse in his arms. He just holds me quietly. "What did you see?"

I don't know how he could be perceptive enough to know that I, a Victor, had a flashback, but I appreciate his perceptiveness. Only when I've sufficiently calmed down do I return to work.


	3. Chapter 3: Labor of Love

**Chapter 3: Labor of Love**

The next project the Reconstruction Crew tackles is the Mellark Bakery. Having spent most of my time after (and sometimes even before) my first Games, I remember where everything was, so that we don't need the blueprints. I wash the walls until my hands are raw. I help lift the beams and order sparkling ovens. For me, it is truly a labor of love. I want this place to shine the way Peeta would have wanted it. Would he have worked here, if he had survived and we had married?

Darius and I observe the construction. "It will look better than it did before!" I promise. "But do you think a baker would take it over?"

"It would have to be a refugee from another district," Darius shrugs. "And we don't get many of those. But-" and he suddenly pulls a deed from his pocket. "- no matter who takes it over, it will always be Mellark Bakery. The name can never be changed."

I stare at him, and suddenly realize: he did it for Peeta. But he also did it for me.

I hug him. And I feel strangely warm inside when I do. And awkward. But Darius rolls with it, ad pats my back.

"Um, Katniss," he suddenly asks nervously, as other builders prepare to leave at the end of the workday. "There's going to be a party this Saturday night in the Hob. Reconstruction crew only. To celebrate, let our hair down a little. Would you like to come?"

I stare at him, taken aback. "Like on a date?"

He shrugs. "Must be your lucky day. But you can call it whatever you like."

I am indeed taken aback. But, though I don't mention this, pleaded, too. So I accept. "Yes. Pick me up at 7:00."


	4. Chapter 4: The Party

**Chapter 4: The Party**

Darius picks me up ay 7:00 on the dot, and we go to the Hob. The illegal black market of Twelve, where I often traded, has since been rebuilt since Peacekeepers burned it down just after Peeta's and my Victory Tour. There, I dance with Darius most of the night. And we talk. He is so easy to talk to, so funny. A little flirtatious, perhaps, but good to be around.

When we get tired, we go off to the side of the market to be alone. From where we stand, we can look up and clearly see the stars. Just then, I hear music and drunken voices wafting over from the bar:

"Kiss your darlings, Oh Johnny boy..."

I giggle. "What are they singing?"

"Oh, it's a drinking song. Usually sung to signal a last call for dancing, or for special things at midnight on New Year's Eve. Ask Haymitch about it sometime, he'll tell you."

But I see couples, prompted by the song, rushing into each other's embrace.

"Then why are...?" My voice is cut off, and I gasp into his mouth, as Darius takes me in his arms and kisses me full on the lips. Nobody except for Peeta (and, a time or two, Gale) has ever kissed me before. But Darius's lips taste so good. So I sink my fingers into his red hair, right down to his scalp, close my eyes, and hum in pleasure as I kiss him back. "Hmmmm..."

We break apart slowly, sensuously. Darius must think I might do something like deck him for kissing me out of the blue for he stammers, "You didn't have a partner," by way of explanation.

I just smirk and pull him back to me, kissing him this time.


	5. Chapter 5: My Hunter's Gone

**Chapter 5: My Hunter's Gone**

My tears stain the letter I now read. Gale is dead - killed in tragic mining accident. I've been asked to the funeral. He was a war hero and a friend to the great Mokingjay; of course I should say a few words.

All at once, there is a knock at the door. I answer to find Darius on my front stoop.

I shakily smile, trying to hide my sadness. Darius and I have never spoken of the many kisses we shared at the Crew Party. I am not even sure what we are, exactly. And I don't know if I want to find out. What Peeta and I had was deep, deep love formed from a traumatic experience. Dating somebody just because they're incredibly attractive physically does not sound like the good basis for a relationship.

"I was just making my Peacekeeping rounds," the handsome ginger explains. "I trust you and Haymitch are well?" I check next door. Haymitch is on the front porch, throwing back a bottle. It is not my job to babysit him, and I largely only keep tabs on him to be sure he is at least imbibing beneath the life-supporting limit.

"Something's wrong," Darius senses. "And it isn't Haymitch."

I have to tell him the truth. So, I tell him about Gale's death, and how I have been asked to attend.

"I should like to accompany you," Darius offers immediately.

I stare. "Accompany me?"

"You... you should not travel alone," he expresses.

I roll my eyes. "I won't be alone. I'll have Haymitch." We now both look as one to the drunk now passed out on his porch.

I turn to the Peacekeeper and nod. I accept. "Yes. You can accompany me."

* * *

When the train pulls into the District 12 station, Darius and I are the only ones who get on. I would have thought some surviving mining buddies might get onboard, to pay their respects. This train will be going across the country, all the districts, to pick up guests. Johanna Mason is one. Annie and her son - my godson - Finn are another. Beetee.

When we arrive in District 2, where Gale spent the last few years of his life, we meet with Enobaria, this district's only surviving Victor and the only living Career. She also happens to be the Mayor. I am surprised. There are only five districts in Panem with surviving Victors of the Hunger Games, and District 12 is one of them. But even so, nobody looked to Peeta or Haymitch or me for leadership - not political, and certainly not in rebuilding efforts. Enobaria leads us to the burial site, explaining how tragic Gale's death was - a total accident. She has become the consummate politician.

After the funeral, the train goes perfectly in reverse, district by district, dropping people off. After 11, Darius and I are all alone. Despite having the train all to ourselves, we have to share a bed, so that train staff can keep track of their passengers. As we are falling asleep, Darius admits something to me out of the blue:

"I had a crush on you, you know." I stare at him as he continues. "For many years. I flirted with you because I was in love with you. I admired what you did for the districts. I was jealous of Gale hanging around with you before I even knew who he was. But I was also afraid of him - of what he might do to me if I flirted too hard. If he had struck me, I would have had to order a whipping for him as a matter of course, as that was the offense for striking a Peacekeeper."

I gulp, staring at him in silence. I can tell from the look in his eyes that he speaks the truth, every word. His gaze becoming more intense, he leans in to kiss me on the lips.

But I make the first move. Grabbing his groin in my hand, gripping it through his pants, I press my lips to his. I kiss him first.

Darius moans and rolls me onto him, so that I straddle his waist. As we kiss, quickly escalating to heated tongue, his hands wander down from my waist and to my buttocks. He strips me of my pants, pushing the fabric sensuously down past my hips as he tenderly caresses, cups and squeezes the tender flesh on my ass.

I suddenly feel Darius's bloated member enter my vagina, and my closed eyes prick with tears from the pain of something snapping, breaking in my core, scary and new. My first time sleeping with, lying with, a man.

Darius suddenly flips us and begins to pound into me. I writhe and shriek beneath him. "Ohhhh... UHhhhhhhh. UHHHHH!"

At last, with a scream, I cum. Darius collapses on me when he ejaculates into me a few moments later.

Sweaty and tired, we fall asleep in each other's arms.


	6. Chapter 6: Victor and Peacekeeper

**Chapter 6: Victor and Peacekeeper**

"What about inviting your mother?" Darius asks the question seriously as we sit in my kitchen, preparing our toasting.

"No. She has a new life in Four. Re-married, even. Trust me, she is better off staying as far away from me as possible!" I don't elaborate that Mother and I have been estranged, ever since I was a teenager. Though it has never been explicitly addressed.

Darius shrugs. "If that's what you feel. We'll have Haymitch, of course. Colleagues from the Reconstruction Crew."

"What about your family?"

At this, my husband-to-be's expression becomes pained. "Oh, they're all dead," he explains a little too flippantly. "They were executed by the Peacekeepers. I only enlisted with them so I wouldn't die, too."

"I'm sorry."

My lover pecks me on the lips chastely. "It's not your fault," he smiles sadly.

Darius and I marry in a lovely toasting ceremony in my living room. Haymitch walks me down the aisle, and when Darius and I kiss the crumbs away from each other's mouths, the Reconstruction Crew breaks into song:

"Kiss your darlings, Oh Johnny!"

And I do. I kiss my darling.


End file.
